|
Historical references yield little information of the life of Abūl-Hasan
‘Alī bin-Hilāl, better known as Ibn
al-Bawwāb. No account is given to name the date and place of his
birth, however, he spent the majority of his life in
Baghdad, where he died in
413H./1022AD and was buried near the tomb of Ibn Hanbal. He was designated
as ‘Ibn al-Bawwāb’ [Son of the Doorkeeper] since his father worked as a
doorkeeper. He was also known as ‘Ibn al-Sitrī’, which has the same
connotation. At the beginning of his career, Ibn al-Bawwāb worked in
decorating houses, then in illuminating manuscripts, and finally he
specialized in the art of calligraphy. He mastered this art to the extent
that he surpassed all his predecessors and confounded all those who came
after him. In addition, he used to preach in the Mosque of al-Mansūr in
Baghdad. It is said that he became one of the intimates of the vizier Fakhr
al-Mulk when he assumed the governorship of the city during the reign of the
Buwayhids.
Ibn al-Bawwāb’s wide fame came from his greatest achievement; the perfection
of the style of writing introduced, nearly a century earlier, by the
celebrated vizier and calligrapher Ibn Muqla. The latter was thrice a vizier
of the Abbasid caliphs. It is said that the Caliph al-Rādī was angry at him
that he ordered his hand to be cut off. Undaunted by the mutilation, Ibn
Muqla tied a calamus to his forearm and devised a new method of writing that
was later developed and mastered by Ibn al-Bawwāb; the Mansub [proportioned]
script. It remained the most fashionable, celebrated, incontestably script
in use for two successive centuries until the introduction of Yāqūt’s style.
Ibn al-Bawwāb received his training under Muhammad al-Simsimanī and Muhammad
bin-Asad. In another account, he acquired his knowledge of calligraphy from
Ibn Muqla’s daughter. It is said that he made 1.001 copies of the Qur’an! A
figure that is evidently fanciful. Indeed, in world libraries today exist
hosts of manuscripts ascribed to him but many have proved spurious.
The manuscript displayed here is the Chester Beatty MS. K. 16 is a small
volume of 286 folios measuring 17.5 × 13.5
cm. The written surface measures 13.5× 9.0 cm. And there are 15 lines in
each page. The colophon indicates that it was written by ‘Alī bin-Hilāl in
Baghdad in 391H./1000-1AD.
The paper of the manuscript is of a medium sickness and firm. In the course
of time, it has acquired a mellow brown tint which is characteristic of
manuscripts of that period. The dark brown ink has produced ‘halos’ round
the script in the places where it has infiltrated along the tissue.
Special
attention is given by Ibn al-Bawwāb to the illumination of the opening page
of the Divine book, however, there is not yet an attempt to produce
carpet-like patterns which, from the third decade of the eleventh century
onwards, cover he whole marginal surfaces in the opening pages of the
Qur’anic manuscripts. The marginal sura-palmettes on this page are more
compact and more carefully executed but also more subdued in coloring.
The genuineness of the Chester Beatty manuscript is not in doubt. The format
of the volume, the paper and ink correspond to what is known of manuscripts
of similar age. While there are no other examples of this manuscript, it
tallies with the descriptions given by Muslims writers.
The
Chester Beatty codex’s historical and artisitic significance lies in being
the earliest known Qur’an in Naskh
script and the only surviving work of the great calligrapher and illuminator
Ibn al-Bawwāb. Moreover, it is the only fully illuminated manuscript of the
Buwayhid period. |
